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ANDREV CARSON, 0F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

Letters Patent No. 65,792, dated June 18, 1867. l

IMPROVED FLOAT 0R RAFT.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Bc it known that I, ANDREW CARSON, of the city of Memphis, in the county of Shelby, in the State of` Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floats for Saw-Mills, and for other purposes; and the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingl drawings, making a part of thisspceication, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective View of my invention.

Figure 2 shows a sectionA through the same. Y

The object ot' my invention is to construct a cheap, substantial, and durable foundation for floating sawinills, movable wha-rves, or batteaux, for receiving and forwarding cotton and other kinds of freight, and for all. purposes for which a. secure foundation or float is needed. l i

My invention consists in securely fastening together a suiiicient quantity of timber by pins or bolts, so as to form a solid mass, of any desired length, width, and depth to give sutlicicnt buoyancy for the purposes for which it may be needed, and then placing cross-timbers on the top, on which to lay and secure the plank forming the platform or floor, longitudinal with the structure, leaving openings through crosswise, so that the waves or water, when agitated, may pass through freely; also, in placing .on either side of thc timber structure buoying floats to support and prevent the foundation from being rocked by the waves or surging billows and swells from passing steamboats, the buoying floats being attached in suoli a manner as to allow them to be detached and taken aboard when the structure is to be moved any considerable distance.

To enable others to construct end usemy invention, I will describe it more fully, referring to the drawings,

and to the letters marked thereon. l The base o'r foundation of the floating structure A A may be made of any light timber, from two-inch plank to large square timbers, they being alternately crossing each other at right and at various other angles, so that the mass, when secured together, is braced in every direction, so that it cannot easily be racked or stove to pieces. When a suicient quantity of timber is fastened together to form the loat A A, as above described, I place joists, a et a a a, of sufficient width and thickness, across the whole top of the structure, leaving thespaces c'c c c e, between them, open on both sides for the water to How through. VTo the top of the joists a a a the plank b 6 b Z) b are fastened, which form the floor or platform on which to erect the saw-mill or receive anddcliver freight.

The movable log bridges B B, which are hinged to one e'nd of theiloat A A, show my improved mode of construction, and but little power is required to raise the logs out of the water on to the platform and to the saw-cariagc, as the distance is but a fewrfeet. A

V For the purpose of steadying the structure when used for a saw-mill, and for making room to pile up and ship and deliver the sawed lumber, I construct buoys C C, and secure them to both sides of the float A A' by a series of joists, d cZ d d, which may .be of any desired length, they forming a sufficient platform for the sawed stuit, which is in a convenient place to be put on flatboats or delivered at wharves; the buoys C C and the joists cl d d all being fastened in such a manner that they can he easily taken to pieces and taken on board the mill, which may be so provided with propellers that it can be moved from place to place by the same power that drives the saw-mill.

Thus it will be seen that a structure, 'as above described, for thqpurposes of a saw-mill, will possess many and great advantages over others, among which are, that it will be much more substantial than when on a boat, no possibility of it being crushed by ice or steamboats or of it being snagged or upset and sunk. As there will be no leaking, there will-be no needl of any pumps or apparatus for hailing out. The saw-mill operating so near the surface of the water, gives it a great advantage for handling both the logs and the sawed lumber, as

also in delivering it. Y.

A platform, constructed as above described, to be moved about from place to 'place in our lakes or rivers, will afford greater facilities for receiving cotton and other freight for shipment, where there are no permanent what-ves, than by any other means yet devised.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Constructing a float for saw-mills, or the purposes herein described, by'securing a sutlicicnt quantity of light timber or other material together in a solid mass, and supporting a platform on the same, substantially as herein described for the purposes set fort-h.

2. I claim attaching side floats to the main tloat, for st'eadying the structure and making room to deposit the sawed lumber, as herein described.

. ANDREW CARSON.

Witnesses:

J. B. WOODRUFF, E. M. DENNIsoN. 

